Wow- I really dig that pic.

Wow! Very interesting!

How about we move the prisioners there?

Cocka-Who?.

"industrial... decay"

isn't 'decay' the root of 'decadence'?

re: #4 logboy

How about we move the prisioners there?

If Pelosi is reading this she'll probably propose moving all elected Republicans there.

re: #1 buzzsawmonkey

Jean Cocteau performed on Cockatoo Island?

Sounds better than Maisey the Parrot Island.

Rust never sleeps.

I say we put all the Gitmo prisoners there and put them to work building warships for the Navy.

No cockatoos...lots of cranes.

re: #9 jaunte

Rust never sleeps.

0bama said we shouldn't listen to Rust!

Beautiful pics!

Some of the other pics are really neat, though some I think might have been better in black and white. I think the most visually stunning one is the one Charles selected though. Great juxtaposition of nature with industry.

Dear A l Gore..
It's beginning to rain Ice in Indiana.. I'm not getting the whole global warming thing.

Some really stunning pics.

re: #14 Sharmuta

Some of the other pics are really neat, though some I think might have been better in black and white. I think the most visually stunning one is the one Charles selected though. Great juxtaposition of nature with industry.

I like this one for visual design

re: #17 Outrider

I liked that one a lot too.

The turds come out as soon as the last thread goes dead. It's as if they think that if they talk to themselves, they will mitigate all the opinions that came before them.

Stange.

re: #2 Sharmuta

Wow- I really dig that pic.

looks just like my garage

At the risk of killing the buzz, did that clown from yesterday afternoon come back today?

This is one I thought would have looked better in black and white.

[Link: patrickboland.com.au...]

re: #17 Outrider

As someone who works in an industrial environment, I look at those pictures and think "What was happening in the hey day? Who worked those machines? Who was the last one there before they shut down? What do those walls know?" I've visited "dead" plants. It's eerie, but you can't seem to look away - you almost hear the workers who were there when the plant was going full steam ahead.

Or, I've had too much wine this evening without eating. You pick.

What was the name of Baretta's Cockatoo?

re: #22 Sharmuta

This is one I thought would have looked better in black and white.

[Link: patrickboland.com.au...]

yes. as an aside, I wish I could get ahold of all that lumber.

re: #15 HoosierHoops

Dear A l Gore..
It's beginning to rain Ice in Indiana.. I'm not getting the whole global warming thing.

Proof!
-Al Gore

Looks like someone still has to come back to cut the grass. I guess they're working off that community service.

He likes to photograph industrial decay?

Well if Obama's "stimulus" takes hold along with new carbon penalties, there will be plenty of industrial decay to photograph here in the USA! Yipppeee!

re: #26 Outrider

It is kind of painful to imagine it just wasting away down there.

re: #21 rwmofo

At the risk of killing the buzz, did that clown from yesterday afternoon come back today?

Do you mean Iam7545? I wish he would, I saved my question to him that he wouldn't answer.

re: #28 rwmofo

Looks like someone still has to come back to cut the grass. I guess they're working off that community service.

nice stonework though

re: #24 Silhouette

What was the name of Baretta's Cockatoo?

Fred.

re: #22 Sharmuta

This is one I thought would have looked better in black and white.

[Link: patrickboland.com.au...]

This wasn't that neat. What kind of photo essay is this with no naked woman?
/

re: #25 buzzsawmonkey

If you're talking about winston06, he was handing out downdings like condoms and clean needles on Ninth Avenue earlier today.

...and I thought that Paul Begala was annoying. Oh wait, I guess they both are.

WONDERFUL PICS

re: #14 Sharmuta

Some of the other pics are really neat, though some I think might have been better in black and white. I think the most visually stunning one is the one Charles selected though. Great juxtaposition of nature with industry.

people have taken pictures in the west, especially desert environs with that exact theme in mind...rusted junk or abandon buildings against a backdrop of immense harshness...the strength of nature as opposed to mere mortals...I do it all the time here in NM

I love ghost towns! And this Australian shipyard is one of the most interesting ones I've seen.

Nice wide-angle photography as well!

Excellent link.

re: #27 Fat Bastard Vegetarian

Proof!
-Al Gore

You know..I misspelled his name and it really pissed me off..
/Goddess isn't around is she? Dang it!

a question for the financial wizards amongst us.

Why are mortgage escrow accounts not paid interest? That is a gang of bucks lost over the years and quite a large fortune for the mortgage companies with all those bucks earning THEM interest.

Just curious.

re: #26 Outrider

yes. as an aside, I wish I could get ahold of all that lumber.

the web site I saw yesterday from which this site was linked was a guy building funiture out of used lumber...pretty cool stuff

Guantanomo Bay closing...Cockatoo Island unused...Inmates need somewhere to go...abandoned prison...

I'm searching for an idea here. Can anybody help me?

re: #41 albusteve

the web site I saw yesterday from which this site was linked was a guy building funiture out of used lumber...pretty cool stuff

most of that stuff is great for almost anything.

OT: Who blowed up da zoo?
Gaza Zoo targeted during war

It was in fine shape when the Israelis found it wired with explosives...

re: #22 Sharmuta

This is one I thought would have looked better in black and white.

[Link: patrickboland.com.au...]

very nice work...

re: #25 buzzsawmonkey

If you're talking about winston06, he was handing out downdings like condoms and clean needles on Ninth Avenue earlier today.

He laid the wood to both of us.

The pictures are beautiful and the color is amazing. From a color editing tool or natural light? Either way a visual treat.

re: #22 Sharmuta

Interesting.

That is the one that jumped out for me as well.

I'll be the first to admit, I am nothing of an artsy type, but what hit me first about the elements of the picture, was the sheer amount of lumber, and looking at the ends of the stock, splitting & worn out.

re: #24 Silhouette

What was the name of Baretta's Cockatoo?

Tweety?

I think you can almost see a man in an orange HEV suit hefting a crowbar in pic #2. Right there in the corner, look closely.

Somewhat on the same topic, if the topic is finding art in man-made structures never really meant to be art

Soviet Era Bus Stops

Number #14 looks like an animal trying to go to the bathroom.

Good grief Charles.

Amazing.

Thanks.

re: #38 zombie

I love ghost towns! And this Australian shipyard is one of the most interesting ones I've seen.

Nice wide-angle photography as well!

Excellent link.

I have some pic I took of local mining/ghost towns. We have a boatload of them in this area, just miles from where I live.

I need to put them on my server some day.

re: #44 Killgore Trout

Wow. Pwned. Good find.

Did anyone notice the placard in the bathroom of one of the pics?

It says "Important This Is A Septic Tank Installation" and it is followed by a request to not throw cigarette butts in the "toilet facilities".

Reminds me of a sign I saw in the Army - It said "DO NOT THROW CIGARETTE BUTTS IN THE URINALS!" Someone added underneath - "they get soggy and are too hard to light".

re: #24 Silhouette

What was the name of Baretta's Cockatoo?

Supper.

re: #44 Killgore Trout

Setting aside the fact that I am a huge animal person and this breaks my heart, they have money for a zoo but can't afford to feed and provide adequate medical care for their people?

re: #48 formercorpsman

I really liked that pic as it already was, but thought B&W would have been interesting too as it's already pretty monochromatic.

re: #29 karmic_inquisitor

He likes to photograph industrial decay?

Well if Obama's "stimulus" takes hold along with new carbon penalties, there will be plenty of industrial decay to photograph here in the USA! Yipppeee!

ZING!

re: #56 Walter L. Newton

WAHHH! My ROOSTERRR!

oh. Sorry. just had a moment there.

re: #46 Fat Bastard Vegetarian

He laid the wood to both of us.

the blog is for the posters...who cares about someone diddling around back there punching buttons?...it's of no concern...

Wow

re: #60 ArmyWife

He was delicious.

re: #58 Sharmuta

I really liked that pic as it already was, but thought B&W would have been interesting too as it's already pretty monochromatic.

I am assuming that the photographer either used filters or digitally enhanced the photos to create that monochrome look.

re: #55 karmic_inquisitor

Did anyone notice the placard in the bathroom of one of the pics?

It says "Important This Is A Septic Tank Installation" and it is followed by a request to not throw cigarette butts in the "toilet facilities".

Reminds me of a sign I saw in the Army - It said "DO NOT THROW CIGARETTE BUTTS IN THE URINALS!" Someone added underneath - "they get soggy and are too hard to light".

"we don't pee in your ashtray, don't throw your cigarette butts in our urinals?'

I also digged this one

[Link: patrickboland.com.au...]

re: #16 Killgore Trout

Some really stunning pics.

Absolutely. I wonder what made Charles decide to use the one he did.

I'm thinking it was the clouds.

re: #51 Silhouette

Somewhat on the same topic, if the topic is finding art in man-made structures never really meant to be art

Soviet Era Bus Stops

Number #14 looks like an animal trying to go to the bathroom.

Nice!

"Godforsaken outposts rumored to be bus stops." Heh. Finally found an appropriate moment to say that!

Just wanted to let you know that the New Homeland Security Bill has passed. Things will be different now and Internet surfing as you know it will be tracked by what the FBI calls a 'nonintrusive method.' The FBI claims that you will hardly notice anything different.

re: #62 buzzsawmonkey

It is fascinating to see the monomaniac concentration of a madman bent on paltry revenge.

maybe he likes the attention you give him eh?...

re: #66 Outrider

"we don't pee in your ashtray, don't throw your cigarette butts in our urinals?'

"WELCOME TO OUR OOL.

"Please note there is no P in it. Please keep it that way."

re: #66 Outrider

"we don't pee in your ashtray, don't throw your cigarette butts in our urinals?'

"Welcome to our OOL. Notice there is no P in it. Please keep it that way."

re: #57 ArmyWife

Setting aside the fact that I am a huge animal person and this breaks my heart, they have money for a zoo but can't afford to feed and provide adequate medical care for their people?

Hey you! Being kind of new to Indiana..They have a killer zoo here..St. Louis too...

New game: Is the object from the prison or shipyard?

re: #70 solomonpanting

too cute!

re: #53 Walter L. Newton

I have some pic I took of local mining/ghost towns. We have a boatload of them in this area, just miles from where I live.

I need to put them on my server some day.

Yeah, I'm jealous of you folks who live in the Colorado mountains. Definitely ghost town central.

It's slim pickin's here in the Bay Area, and even the ones in the Gold Country are either commercialized or picked over.

re: #60 ArmyWife

WAHHH! My ROOSTERRR!
oh. Sorry. just had a moment there.

I like to walk around Maisey the Parrot's cage with a fork in my hand. She looks really funny at me.

beautiful sky!

re: #77 zombie

Zombie! Hey! Great to see you!

re: #77 zombie

Yeah, I'm jealous of you folks who live in the Colorado mountains. Definitely ghost town central.

It's slim pickin's here in the Bay Area, and even the ones in the Gold Country are either commercialized or picked over.

Isn't SanFran a ghost town?

re: #24 Silhouette

What was the name of Baretta's Cockatoo?

Fred.

re: #74 HoosierHoops

Hi there! I love the National Zoo. I have to dodge the hippies and libs, but it's a lot of fun. They have an orangutan who has a pink blankie that he wraps himself up in. I just want to squeeze him!

re: #23 ArmyWife

Actually no. It is interesting you make this comment. It also runs through my mind.

Perhaps it is absurd, and maybe I don't necessarily have the right words for it, but I think it makes me sorrowful to see images like this, or go through a city where the remnants of a once vibrant industry stood.

It really makes me think of the men like my grandfather who turned propellers for Naval ships, or other laborious occupations as such. I thin of the women who stepped into the roles while those men were sent off to war.

I think about the local corner bar, where guys would have a couple before they head home for dinner.

Like I said, it sounds absurd, but for some reason, it crosses my mind.

They got surfing, too!

re: #72 victor_yugo

re: #73 gmsc

three seconds between your responses.

re: #77 zombie

Yeah, I'm jealous of you folks who live in the Colorado mountains. Definitely ghost town central.

It's slim pickin's here in the Bay Area, and even the ones in the Gold Country are either commercialized or picked over.

NM is not ghost town chopped liver amigo...5th largest state 2nd lowest population (I think)...lotsa that stuff...

re: #57 ArmyWife

It's even more outrageous if you think about how the Israelis foiled the original plot to blow up the school. After they pull out Hamas blows it up and shoots the animals anyways. The Palestinians can always find new depths of depravity.

re: #80 Fat Bastard Vegetarian

Zombie! Hey! Great to see you!

You can see me?

/[looks nervously out the window...]

re: #72 victor_yugo

"WELCOME TO OUR OOL.

"Please note there is no P in it. Please keep it that way."

"Please, do not throw cigarette butts in the urinal. It makes them soggy and hard to light."

re: #81 Walter L. Newton

Isn't SanFran a ghost town?

A moral ghost town, that's for sure.

As for people, though -- far too many of 'em.

re: #88 Killgore Trout

It's even more outrageous if you think about how the Israelis foiled the original plot to blow up the school. Zoo

/I stink

re: #81 Walter L. Newton

Isn't SanFran a ghost town?

Only the Financial District on a weekend.

Behold your future America!

/The One, promoting another $Trillion rescue package (Oh, and Cockatoos are all Republicans, everyone knows that)

re: #89 zombie

You can see me?

/[looks nervously out the window...]

yeah. you got your cam turned on.

re: #58 Sharmuta

It is interesting. I'm positive someone here knows for sure, but I think it might be a telephoto lens?

re: #55 karmic_inquisitor

Did anyone notice the placard in the bathroom of one of the pics?

It says "Important This Is A Septic Tank Installation" and it is followed by a request to not throw cigarette butts in the "toilet facilities".

Reminds me of a sign I saw in the Army - It said "DO NOT THROW CIGARETTE BUTTS IN THE URINALS!" Someone added underneath - "they get soggy and are too hard to light".

re: #90 Fat Bastard Vegetarian

7 minutes and 22 seconds between your responses.

"Please, do not throw cigarette butts in the urinal. It makes them soggy and hard to light."

re: #51 Silhouette

Somewhat on the same topic, if the topic is finding art in man-made structures never really meant to be art

Soviet Era Bus Stops

Number #14 looks like an animal trying to go to the bathroom.

Most of those pictures look like there's been no life around for years - as if they were nuked.

re: #70 solomonpanting

Just wanted to let you know that the New Homeland Security Bill has passed. Things will be different now and Internet surfing as you know it will be tracked by what the FBI calls a 'nonintrusive method.' The FBI claims that you will hardly notice anything different.

Cookie Monster had his eyes confiscated by the Feds?

re: #57 ArmyWife

Setting aside the fact that I am a huge animal person and this breaks my heart, they have money for a zoo but can't afford to feed and provide adequate medical care for their people?

And they have money for guns, and rockets, and mortars, and 1000s of bright shiny brand-new green hats and scarves and flags we see at every Hamas rally.

But just can't afford to fix the sewers.

Poor.

Starving.

Gazans.

re: #92 Killgore Trout

/I stink

Did you hear me earlier. D'sousa and Hitchens in Boulder tonight. I didn't even know about it. I would have found the money to go see that somehow.

re: #44 Killgore Trout

Nice find. I smell a hat tip.

re: #77 zombie

You like doing the ghost thing?

re: #98 rwmofo

Most of those pictures look like there's been no life around for years - as if they were nuked.

Nah, nuked Russian towns look more like this.

re: #99 Sharmuta

Cookie Monster had his eyes confiscated by the Feds?

Part of Obama's new national sacrifice program.

re: #87 albusteve

NM is not ghost town chopped liver amigo...5th largest state 2nd lowest population (I think)...lotsa that stuff...

Yeah, I was gonna mention: New Mexico runs a close second to the Colorado mountains as far as sheer numbers of ghost towns.

(Actually, if you want to go international: the 100-mile radius around Chernobyl is where to go if you really want to see ghost towns galore [and get cancer in the bargain].)

Gee, you don't have to go to all the way to Australia to see industrial ruins. We got ruins right here that'll break your heart...

re: #97 gmsc

Sorry. Only saw the post a few above. Dumbass me. I'm watching a new show on Discovery HD "One Way Out". Escape show. Very cool.

re: #103 formercorpsman

You like doing the ghost thing?

Ghosts, zombies...it's all good.

Heck of a sky they have down there at Cockatoo Island.

re: #105 solomonpanting

C is for cookie, but not looking.

re: #51 Silhouette

Somewhat on the same topic, if the topic is finding art in man-made structures never really meant to be art

Soviet Era Bus Stops

Number #14 looks like an animal trying to go to the bathroom.

Number 7 looks like a mosque! (or maybe it IS a mosque?)

re: #93 Dianna

Only the Financial District on a weekend.

LOL
San Fran..The most beautiful city in the world...To lay on the beach at night on a full moon in Alameda...on bay farm Island and look upon SF. The most beautiful city in the world..

re: #42 zombie

Guantanomo Bay closing...Cockatoo Island unused...Inmates need somewhere to go...abandoned prison...

I'm searching for an idea here. Can anybody help me?

They run for office, become "esteemed" educators and host TV shows, don't ya know?

re: #84 formercorpsman

We shut down one of the plants on our compound. I go there on my walk arounds - to remind me why I do what I do, make some tough decisions - I don't want to go through that again, affect that many lives. Sadly, it looks like I am facing that sooner rather than later, and O'Malley's ridiculous policies, coupled with Obama's blazing display of stupidity aren't making the long term outlook for my plant much better. We are the largest chem manufacturer in MD - we pay an average of $30/hr. If we leave even partially, the effects will ripple through our area. But they don't care at all - stunningly, the union employees vote Dem 95% of the time, and this is what they get in return.

re: #105 solomonpanting

Part of Obama's new national sacrifice program.

"Sacrifice' does not mean the rejection of the worthless, but of the precious. 'Sacrifice' does not mean the rejection of the evil for the sake of the good, but of the good for the sake of the evil. 'Sacrifice' is the surrender of that which you value in favor of that which you don't.

"If you exchange a penny for a dollar, it is not a sacrifice; if you exchange a dollar for a penny, it is. If you achieve the career you wanted, after years of struggle, it is not a sacrifice; if you then renounce it for the sake of a rival, it is. If you own a bottle of milk and give it to your starving child, it is not a sacrifice; if you give it to your neighbor's child and let your own die, it is.

"If you give money to help a friend, it is not a sacrifice; if you give it to a worthless stranger, it is. If you give your friend a sum you can afford, it is not a sacrifice; if you give him money at the cost of your own discomfort, it is only a partial virtue, according to this sort of moral standard; if you give him money at the cost of disaster to yourself–that is the virtue of sacrifice in full.

"If you renounce all personal desires and dedicate your life to those you love, you do not achieve full virtue: you still retain a value of your own, which is your love. If you devote your life to random strangers, it is an act of greater virtue. If you devote your life to serving men you hate–that is the greatest of the virtues you can practice.

"A sacrifice is the surrender of a value. Full sacrifice is full surrender of all values. If you start, however, as a passionless blank, as a vegetable seeking to be eaten, with no values to reject and no wishes to renounce, you will not win the crown of sacrifice. It is not a sacrifice to renounce the unwanted. It is not a sacrifice to give your life for others, if death is your personal desire. To achieve the virtue of sacrifice, you must want to live, you must love it, you must burn with passion for this earth and for all the splendor it can give you–you must feel the twist of every knife as it slashes your desires away from your reach and drains your love out of your body. It is not mere death that the morality of sacrifice holds out to you as an ideal, but death by slow torture.

-John Galt

re: #109 zombie

Someone asked if you had been around, and I made a joke yesterday that you had been banned.

Turned out not to be a very funny joke. I got dings and zings and other scary things.

re: #88 Killgore Trout

It makes my heart hurt.

re: #57 ArmyWife

Setting aside the fact that I am a huge animal person and this breaks my heart, they have money for a zoo but can't afford to feed and provide adequate medical care for their people?

The animals in the zoo are there to throw rocks at when there are no Jews available. Remember the Nahoul video where the vicious little insect throws rocks at caged lions and swings cats by the tail?

re: #23 ArmyWife

As someone who works in an industrial environment, I look at those pictures and think "What was happening in the hey day? Who worked those machines? Who was the last one there before they shut down? What do those walls know?" I've visited "dead" plants. It's eerie, but you can't seem to look away - you almost hear the workers who were there when the plant was going full steam ahead.

Or, I've had too much wine this evening without eating. You pick.

What Industry? I should ask if you mind that I ask.

Think what great ruins this will make one day.

- Houston architect circa 1982.

re: #42 zombie

Guantanomo Bay closing...Cockatoo Island unused...Inmates need somewhere to go...abandoned prison...

I'm searching for an idea here. Can anybody help me?

As I understand it, people who've committed terrorist acts in the past are usually given professorships at American Universities.

Star Trek™ legend Majel Roddenberry to fly with her husband Gene on Celestis Voyager deep space mission.

[Link: www.celestis.com...]

My best friend went up on a Celestis rocket in 2001.

First star to the right and straight on 'til morning...

re: #120 Truck Monkey

Specialty Chemical

re: #109 zombie

Eastern State Penitentiary seems like a fun place.

Wow - Great photo. Looks like a wide angle lense was used with a polarizer filter. Nice texture too.

re: #123 SummerSong

Star Trek™ legend Majel Roddenberry to fly with her husband Gene on Celestis Voyager deep space mission.

[Link: www.celestis.com...]

My best friend went up on a Celestis rocket in 2001.

First star to the right and straight on 'til morning...

If you head towards the second star to the right, and go straight on until morning, you get to Neverland. What happens when you head towards the first star?

prisons, even pictures of prisons, creep me out.

re: #113 HoosierHoops

LOL
San Fran..The most beautiful city in the world...To lay on the beach at night on a full moon in Alameda...on bay farm Island and look upon SF. The most beautiful city in the world..

Yeah - today was one of the days that you're reminded of that. Really gorgeous.

And, since I was sunk deep into number world, I didn't notice any annoyances.

Looking at photos like these, I can't help wondering what future archaeologists (assuming there will be any) will make of our age, say, 400 years from now.

The clouds are the real beauty in that picture.

re: #117 Fat Bastard Vegetarian

Someone asked if you had been around, and I made a joke yesterday that you had been banned.

Turned out not to be a very funny joke. I got dings and zings and other scary things.

Are you still round :)

re: #84 formercorpsman

Actually no. It is interesting you make this comment. It also runs through my mind.

Perhaps it is absurd, and maybe I don't necessarily have the right words for it, but I think it makes me sorrowful to see images like this, or go through a city where the remnants of a once vibrant industry stood.

It really makes me think of the men like my grandfather who turned propellers for Naval ships, or other laborious occupations as such. I thin of the women who stepped into the roles while those men were sent off to war.

I think about the local corner bar, where guys would have a couple before they head home for dinner.

Like I said, it sounds absurd, but for some reason, it crosses my mind.

We've been up to PA a couple times. Altoona and Johnstown are just sad.

re: #119 Alouette

No, I don't. I'm glad I don't, as I look at my little kitty cat sleeping on the guest bed - on my freshly folded clean laundry...

re: #101 Walter L. Newton

They trot the same dog and pony show from town to town. The script changes on occasion. I might show up to see a debate too but you can watch them online if you want.

re: #128 ggt

prisons, even pictures of prisons, creep me out.

A few years ago I was riding by one of the prisons in Colorado (Canon City) just as a bus was emptying out. The "guys" who were walking to their new home did NOT have a spring in their step.

This really is a cool show. I'm gonna enjoy this. One Way Out on the Discover Channel. Don't know how long this one will last.

re: #130 Guanxi88

Looking at photos like these, I can't help wondering what future archaeologists (assuming there will be any) will make of our age, say, 400 years from now.

I've often wondered what future archaeologists will think 10,000 years from now, upon digging up Las Vegas.

"Hey, I've discovered a old medieval castle! . . . and it's right next to a . . . scale model of a city and a glass pyramid?!?"

re: #130 Guanxi88

Looking at photos like these, I can't help wondering what future archaeologists (assuming there will be any) will make of our age, say, 400 years from now.

They will look back and wonder what it was like to not live in an ice cave and have nothing to eat but more f'ing polar bear.

re: #134 ArmyWife

No, I don't. I'm glad I don't, as I look at my little kitty cat sleeping on the guest bed - on my freshly folded clean laundry...

Yours, too, huh?

"No outfit is complete without pet hair!" seems to be the household motto.

re: #102 Noam Sayin'

Maybe, Maybe not. The Big Lizard Upstairs moves in mysterious ways.

Evening lizards!

I about threw up when I heard about this today...

U.S. plans ‘direct diplomacy’ with Iran

NEW YORK (JTA) -- The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations said the new administration would engage in "direct diplomacy" with Iran.

Susan Rice, who was appointed to the U.N. post by President Obama, made the comment Monday after presenting her credentials to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

"We look forward to engaging in vigorous diplomacy that includes direct diplomacy with Iran," said Rice, according to The Associated Press.

Our enemies are salivating at this new weak administration in charge.

re: #115 ArmyWife

It is amazing. Literally, within a 20 mile diameter, there are probably hundreds of similar situations.

I think of the Industrial Highway in Delaware County. So many big corporations, jobs, lives. Nearly all of it is gone.

That was my family. Blue collar. Hometown people.

Charles, it's Never Land, not Never Never Land. NeverLand, says Wikipedia. And I'd say this is Joseph Schumpeter's creative destruction at work. Shipbuilding used to be high tech. Today, it's not as complicated as chip design or what have you. As with all industries, mature industrial capacity migrates to lower wage regions, while the most technically demanding work is done in the high-skill enclaves of their age.

World shipping capacity is holding up nicely. UN report 1990's, and seems to have been expanding recently 4.5 percent increase in 2005

One reason for not building as many ships is that not as many are lost. Today's ships are just better. Losing just 0.1 percent yearly

Also shows extinction of a once great behemoth, outdone by new more efficient, evolved industrial breeds.

re: #140 Dianna

With a cat, 3 dogs and 3 horses, if you can find the clothes under the hair, it's a good day!

re: #112 Alouette

Number 7 looks like a mosque! (or maybe it IS a mosque?)

Hey, as long as we're waiting for the bus, let's pray!

re: #127 gmsc

If you head towards the second star to the right, and go straight on until morning, you get to Neverland. What happens when you head towards the first star?

They get to come back? LOL I wish...

re: #142 NJDhockeyfan

Evening lizards!

I about threw up when I heard about this today...

U.S. plans ‘direct diplomacy’ with Iran

Our enemies are salivating at this new weak administration in charge.

Susan Rice? Well, if they offer to hand over Osama as part of the deal, we'll know that Osama is safe from ever being caught.

re: #135 Killgore Trout

They trot the same dog and pony show from town to town. The script changes on occasion. I might show up to see a debate too but you can watch them online if you want.

Ok, that will work. Actually I'd like to sit down with Hitchens for a few hours over a bottle of scotch and Turkish cigarettes and talk. But I don't drink or smoke any more, so I probably wouldn't be much a a fun "date" for him.

OT

CNN intends to broadcast The Won's address to Al-Arabiya in its entirety...

re: #133 Jim in Virginia

Yeah, they are. Truly sad. The mighty have fallen.
BRB

re: #129 Dianna

Yeah - today was one of the days that you're reminded of that. Really gorgeous.

And, since I was sunk deep into number world, I didn't notice any annoyances.

I love the bay area...we are cali natives..all the kids were born at queen of the Valley in Napa..Regards

re: #148 SummerSong

They get to come back? LOL I wish...

re: #124 ArmyWife
Are you a chemical engineer?

re: #151 J.S.

Will they show him bending over and barking like a dog too?

re: #150 Walter L. Newton

Yeah, I'd love to meet him. I'd probably waste the opportunity and just piss him off about siding with the Palestinians but at least it would make for a great story. I think I could take him if it came to fisticuffs.

re: #116 gmsc

'Sacrifice' does not mean the rejection of the evil for the sake of the good, but of the good for the sake of the evil.

Why does this point seem to reflect Obama's calling?

re: #143 formercorpsman

I love being at the plant, where the rubber meets the road. I walk through at least one of our facilities every day - I can tell chemicals by the smell now, though when I have guests at the plant they say "what is that smell?" and I say "smell? what smell?". I think I told you guys this , but a few days ago, I was discussing the economy with the Union leadership team and how its looking a bit grim for us. Do you know one of them said to me that I caused all this(global economic downturn) to posture for our upcoming negotiations? I said "wow, was I that obvious?"

re: #127 gmsc

If you head towards the second star to the right, and go straight on until morning, you get to Neverland. What happens when you head towards the first star?

You miss Michael Jackson?

re: #158 solomonpanting

Why does this point seem to reflect Obama's calling?

Because it reflects the way 0bama thinks.

On a lighter note, "Nobody really likes her."

Heh.

re: #151 J.S.

I am giddy with anticipation.

re: #157 Killgore Trout

Yeah, I'd love to meet him. I'd probably waste the opportunity and just piss him off about siding with the Palestinians but at least it would make for a great story. I think I could take him if it came to fisticuffs.

fisticuffs?...you lose already bro
/

Drops of Jupiter - Train

re: #162 rwmofo

On a lighter note, "Nobody really likes her."

Heh.

Good!

re: #141 Killgore Trout

Maybe, Maybe not. The Big Lizard Upstairs moves in mysterious ways.

I recommended it, as I'm sure others have.

[Link: www.jpost.com...]

re: #157 Killgore Trout

Yeah, I'd love to meet him. I'd probably waste the opportunity and just piss him off about siding with the Palestinians but at least it would make for a great story. I think I could take him if it came to fisticuffs.

Well that's a given, just step aside on the first punch, he'd loose his balance and head ass down for the floor. Come on, I know, I use to drink like him.

re: #165 SummerSong

Drops of Jupiter - Train

[Video]

The song starts out, "Embedding disabled by request . . ."

re: #165 SummerSong

Drops of Jupiter - Train

[Video]

I dunno...Maybe the best song EVAH!

Does Boland like Vegemite sammiches?

re: #113 HoosierHoops

LOL
San Fran..The most beautiful city in the world...To lay on the beach at night on a full moon in Alameda...on bay farm Island and look upon SF. The most beautiful city in the world..

Know the areas well.

re: #156 Desert Dog

Only if it boosts the ratings...the Barking will be the "first formal address to the Muslim world."

re: #142 NJDhockeyfan

Would YOU go to a doctor who said, in effect, "The HISTORY of this disease is unimportant! Let's start fresh!"

/and what? prescribe jelly-beans? apply Sootho-Balm? recommend the patient ride for an hour a day... on unicorns?

/good luck, Obama, in getting the unicorns into Iran! al-Qaim was shot dead for doing more really helpful efforts than this!

re: #154 gmsc

I guess I'm sappy tonight - that made me cry...and smile.

Thanks. :)

I think I like the pic of the toilet best. It almost looks like that urban style back in the 40s or some time around then. I don't know the name of the style. I majored in music.

re: #157 Killgore Trout

Yeah, I'd love to meet him. I'd probably waste the opportunity and just piss him off about siding with the Palestinians but at least it would make for a great story. I think I could take him if it came to fisticuffs.

Hitchens would probably respond accordingly.

re: #176 SummerSong

I guess I'm sappy tonight - that made me cry...and smile.

Thanks. :)

You're welcome.

re: #19 Walter L. Newton

The turds come out as soon as the last thread goes dead. It's as if they think that if they talk to themselves, they will mitigate all the opinions that came before them.

Stange.

Yep, you're out. "Stange"(sic) ain't it?

re: #159 ArmyWife

YOU BITCH, I KNEW IT WAS YOU!

Stupid economic turn-down...

re: #150 Walter L. Newton

Ok, that will work. Actually I'd like to sit down with Hitchens for a few hours over a bottle of scotch and Turkish cigarettes and talk. But I don't drink or smoke any more, so I probably wouldn't be much a a fun "date" for him.

If I'm not mistaken, Hitchens has recently quit smoking and restricted his drinking to wine.

re: #140 Dianna

Yours, too, huh?

"No outfit is complete without pet hair!" seems to be the household motto.

yup. When I was still n the Army, on those days I had to wear the Class A dress uniform, I would always do so on post. Not in the house.

re: #164 albusteve

Hitch is a drunk but a gentleman, as am I. The The Queensbury Rules must apply.

re: #184 Killgore Trout

Oh please...then explain why he beats up on dead people, eh?

re: #173 aboo-Hoo-Hoo

Know the areas well.

I messed up..I said early all our kids were born at Queen of the Valley in Napa. But really our Daughter was born at Merritt Hospital in Oakland 24 years ago. I was TDY working out of Alameda Naval air station and mama decided to have the most beautiful girl in the world...

re: #159 ArmyWife

More than I want to, I find myself in those situations.

It is the same old argument. Do you try to fight them with sound, reasoned argument? Or do you just ignore them?

I recall talking to the husband of a patient back in 2000, during the Bush/Gore voting debacle. (He was a teamster.

He was emphatic Gore was going to get in. His rationale was that "he never ate this good ever" to which I knew at that point, citing any type of hard date was worthless.

re: #184 Killgore Trout

5. A man hanging on the ropes in a helpless state, with his toes off the ground, shall be considered down.

Also, known as the FBV rule.

re: #183 Outrider

yup. When I was still n the Army, on those days I had to wear the Class A dress uniform, I would always do so on post. Not in the house.

Sounds like a very, very good idea.

I keep one outfit at the office, in case of emergencies. It's never come home, just visited the dry cleaners down the street.

re: #184 Killgore Trout

Hitch is a drunk but a gentleman, as am I. The The Queensbury Rules must apply.

I was gonna go something like that but thought the better...here's my advice Rocky...kick him in the balls over and over...then again

Rove Subpoenaed.

re: #187 formercorpsman

Sometimes the silliness worked to our advantage - before I started, so I can't take credit, but the Union totally rolled on health care increases because HillaryCare was a-comin' so it didn't matter.

Cairo stops Iranian arms ship from passing through Suez

Israel is closely tracking an Iranian freighter believed to be carrying weaponry for Hamas that is currently docked in the Red Sea outside the Suez Canal, after Egypt refused to permit it to cross the waterway to the Mediterranean.

According to a report received at the Defense Ministry from the Pentagon, the US Navy recently boarded an Iranian vessel that was carrying artillery shells and other weaponry.

"This is a big test for the Egyptians," a senior defense official said. "So far the Egyptians have prevented the ship from crossing the Suez and we hope it will stay that way."

Defense officials said that Iran is trying to supply Hamas with new Grad-model Katyusha rockets and to replace high-grade explosives that were exhausted or destroyed by the IDF during Operation Cast Lead.

Jimmy Carter was unavailable for comment.

re: #184 Killgore Trout

Hitch is a drunk but a gentleman, as am I. The The Queensbury Rules must apply.

The Queensbury Rules always make me think of The Quite Man

Not terribly newsworthy but posting for archival purposes...

It appears to be footage of Hamas rounding up Fatah traitors. At the end they back up a truck to the house and start unloading stuff. Curious.
I think my prediction of another Hamas/Fatah war is not going to come about. I suspect Hamas was not sufficiently weakened for fatah to make a move. I'll give it another week or two but I suspect it's not going to happen.

re: #181 formercorpsman

I'll put it back to right - as soon as I get my concessions.

re: #192 ArmyWife

You just have to love it.

re: #77 zombie

Yeah, I'm jealous of you folks who live in the Colorado mountains. Definitely ghost town central.

It's slim pickin's here in the Bay Area, and even the ones in the Gold Country are either commercialized or picked over.

Bodie is pretty cool. Not real close, but drivable.

c you all later!

re: #191 NYCHardhat

Do the words, "get over it!" ever spring to mind? With great force?

Why are they wasting our time and money?

re: #192 ArmyWife

Sometimes the silliness worked to our advantage - before I started, so I can't take credit, but the Union totally rolled on health care increases because HillaryCare was a-comin' so it didn't matter.

IMHO unions exis, in most cases, for the good and welfare of union leaders. Loyal rank and file members are suckers plain and simple...

re: #194 Sharmuta

The Queensbury Rules always make me think of The Quite Man

Youtube Video

one of my top five movies ever...Victor McGlaughlin is just supreme in this flick as are all the other Irish people

President Obama Does First Formal TV Interview as President with Al-Arabiya at 11:00 PM Tonight

re: #194 Sharmuta

Gosh, Maureen O'Hara was a beautiful woman. Just. Wow.!

re: #201 CIA Reject

That isn't your opinion, sugar. That's fact.

re: #172 MandyManners

Does Boland like Vegemite sammiches?

[Video]

WHAT'S WRONG WITH MARMITE?

DANGER
ARDROX 667 TOXIC
APRON, GLOVES & FACE
SHIELD MUST BE WORN
WHEN USING THIS LIQUID

Hmm, so you gotta ask, What the heck is Ardrox 667?

A powerful carbon remover with similar properties to Gamstrip CT, except requires the addition of a water seal. Will also remove epoxy and acrylic paint finishes.

OK. Then what the heck is Gamstrip CT?

A powerful carbon and paint remover composed of chlorinated solvents, cresols and corrosion inhibitors for cleaning hard to remove carbon and paint from all metals. Contains a water seal to prevent evaporation.

I have worked with chlorinated solvents in the past. Really good cleaning solvent. I wouldn't recommend washing your hands with it.

re: #203 unrealizedviewpoint

It's being broadcast right now on CNN...

re: #190 albusteve

See: Lou vs Tyler
/Americans are a little "different"

re: #191 NYCHardhat

Rove Subpoenaed.

And the witch hunt(s) begin!

re: #209 Killgore Trout

Sorry, missing link...
Lou vs Tyler

Whoa..Okla better play off the 1-3-1 defense better or they are going to lose to State..They lead 41-32 yet..Watch out

re: #191 NYCHardhat

Rove Subpoenaed.

There's that spirit of bipartisanship again...What Conyers and his ilk really want is the head of Rove's former boss on a pike. The Dems better be careful. When you play with fire, sometimes you get burnt. If they continue with this path, they will really rip this country apart.

re: #208 J.S.

It's being broadcast right now on CNN...

Thank you!

re: #205 ArmyWife

That isn't your opinion, sugar. That's fact.

You're telling me. I belonged to a union that went out on strike. As a result I went broke. The one issue that prolonged the strike for four months was that the union leaders insisted that if the company was sold or merged with another company (there were rumors that turned out to be true later) the successor company would recognize the union. They kept us out for four months to make sure they would always have jobs.

After the company agreed to that all the salary and benefits stuff was settled in two days.

Rat Bastids!

re: #203 unrealizedviewpoint

President Obama Does First Formal TV Interview as President with Al-Arabiya at 11:00 PM Tonight

On Al-Arabiya?!
Of course, he might as well have done it on Caliphate Nazi News.

re: #211 Killgore Trout

Sorry, missing link...
Lou vs Tyler

"thanks Lou"...heh

re: #215 CIA Reject

Stinkaroo. Next time cross the line! I'm going to bed, but I'll check in tomorrow. Be good, honcos!

re: #210 sattv4u2

And the witch hunt(s) begin!

This one is John Conyers (Idiot, MI) investigating GWB's firing of US Attorneys. Wonder if Karl will bring up this..

The broadcast network evening newscasts, which didn't care in 1993 about the Clinton administration's decision to ask for the resignation of all 93 U.S. attorneys, went apoplectic Tuesday night in leading with the "controversy," fed by the media, over the Bush administration for replacing eight U.S. attorneys in late 2006 -- nearly two years after rejecting the idea of following the Clinton policy of replacing all the attorneys.

re: #213 Desert Dog

There's that spirit of bipartisanship again...What Conyers and his ilk really want is the head of Rove's former boss on a pike. The Dems better be careful. When you play with fire, sometimes you get burnt. If they continue with this path, they will really rip this country apart.

W is history, but Rove can still hurt them because he knows how to win elections. They feel the need to damage him as much as possible in order to secure their grip on power.

Power is the only thing the left cares about.

re: #191 NYCHardhat

Rove Subpoenaed.

This is the left's never-ending effort to criminalize conservatism.

Is Reza Aslan a homosexual? (Just curious...)

Anyone interested in photographing modern decay against a stark landscape with wind swept skies should make a trip down to the Salton Sea.

It's my favorite weird place in California. I've dragged many a reluctant European visitor out there and they always love it.

Make sure to go in the summer when it's 110 degrees. And be sure to stop and have a cold one at The Ski Inn at Bombay Beach, the most God-forsaken town in America!

re: #218 ArmyWife

Stinkaroo. Next time cross the line! I'm going to bed, but I'll check in tomorrow. Be good, honcos!

I made sure there was no next time - I found a better job!

Good night!

re: #191 NYCHardhat

Rove Subpoenaed.

Cartoon I had in side links:

Clinton 93 reshuffles or firings...ZIP!
Bush 8 reshuffles of firings...All hell breaks looses.

The only really good Democrat is one out of office, especially of the type of Dem, we have now. Bent on taking this country apart, piece by piece. Pisser is, they are succeeding.

I wonder if John Conyer's hearings about GWB's firing of 8 US Attorneys in 2006 will affect the over/under on the number of US Attorneys that Obama is going to fire. I wouldn't be surprised if he gets rid of all 93 but I'd put the over/under at 25 in 2009.

OK, so today I was trying to get my head around how somebody gets elected POTUS with the slogan, "Hope", when the US is one of the most prosperous country in the world, when my brother suggested I needed to get drinking the Kool-Aid.

So I thought I'd try to get into the spirit of things - try to embrace my inner despair, ya' know? Then it hit me! I had heard a blues song long ago that could help me! Ukulele Blues, by Martin Mull. It goes like this:

I woke up this morning
Saw both cars were gone
I said I woke up this morning
I saw both cars were gone
I felt so low down deep inside
I threw my drink across the lawn

I feel better now.

[Link: www.rhapsody.com...]

The One: "Common Hopes and Common Dreams" -- yeah, sure...(like HAMAS's genocidal aspirations are a "common dream.")

Gergen is saying that Obama wants to transform the world -- both in terms of domestic policy and in foreign policy...it's revolutionary...

A little excessive on the Photoshop effects (saturation, selective blur, etc.). Still, looks like an interesting place.

Interesting place but those images are all overcooked HDR. There is a problem with photographers who get into that method of shooting - they lose touch with reality and forget what their subject is supposed to look like.

The best way to use HDR imaging is when nobody can tell it's HDR. Patrick Boland will learn eventually - hopefully he will have saved all of his raw images and can then go back and create them propoerly.

re: #47 snowcrash

Looks like he rendered them all with a technique called HDR.

HDR group on Flickr

One of mine

Site's down for me. Mirror anyone? (Or perhaps he had a Flickr account too?)

It's back up. There must be a lot of volume ATM.

These are AWESOME. I love industrial decay photography - now that I know about it - and industrial. I have "Chemical Plant at Night" over my couch in the living room and want to get an oil platform at night for over my desk.

Nice pictures. The place definitely looks run-down and abandoned, but I wouldn't mind being there, or any other place in Australia right now; It's summer down there now and it's a lot warmer there than it is here. We're due to get freezing rain here in North Texas tonight.

It's a shame that Sydney Harbour is no longer a "working" Harbour anymore.

My parents used to take me down to watch all the huge ships come in and out. Childhood memories gone forever.

The Harbour was really becoming impractical to do work in with the increase in new technology and the size of new ships.

Damn... it looks like Borg cubes battling Alien down under.

Looks dystopian -- like something out of Half-Life 2 (the Highway 17 stretch to Nova Prospekt).

Yeah, I played that game way too much...

Definitely HDR (high dynamic range) photography.
Probably using photomatix and photoshop.
Nice.

I like the giant lathe. It is perfect for my needs.

re: #47 snowcrash

Many look to be HDR's. Forgive me if you already know - High Dynamic Range; the use of multiple exposures blended together to make one picture. It allows you to under/over -expose so that really bright or really dark areas are correctly exposed. This provides really vibrant colors and great contrast and detail. It is especially popular when shooting scenes like this where the object is to capture the tones and layers of oxidation and decay. Fun stuff and as you can see the results are interesting.